Cabinet construction



Patented Jan. 11, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE CABINET CONSTRUCTION Frank Mastrangelo, Fitchburg, Mass. Application January 19, 1942, Serial No. 427,241

1 Claim.

This invention relates to cabinet constructions and particularly 'to those known as kitchen cabinets whether base units or wall units.

Objects of the invention include the provision of base cabinets sold in semi-knocked down condition for the purchaser to assemble and set up, certain parts cf the cabinets being already attached and certain parts being separate but ready for attachment, to the end that shipping charges are reduced and the price to the consumer may be set at a minimum for this type of merchandise.

Other objects of the invention reside in the provision of cabinets as aforesaid wherein a single unitary top or counter is provided to be attached to a single or a plurality of cabinets, so that a series of cabinets may have a continuous top; the provision of variations in the cabinets so that single units may be made conveniently and inexpensively in any widths desired, and whereby a sink may be used in the counter and a special sink front may be supplied to fit and to be attached to spaced cabinets at either side of the sink; and the provision of special fastening means for securing the counter to the cabinets.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a front elevational View of a completed series of cabinets;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-,2 of Fig. 1 with the drawer removed;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the separate cabinet front frame;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the front frame of Fig. 4, showing how the side panels lit the same, and looking in the direction of arrow 5 in Fig, 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 show front and edge views of a cabinet door; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the base or the toe board.

Fig. 1 shows a combination kitchen unit comprising a narrow cabinet ill, a spaced wider cabinet I2, and doors id hinged on cleats i6 attached to the adjacent sides of the cabinets. These doors represent a sink area in the entire combination and a sink may be suspended from the overlying continuous counter top I8 so as to depend therefrom behind the doors and the top board 2B, the latter being secured to sides of the cabinets as by nails or screws inserted from the interiors of the cabinets and extending parallel to the top board. Cabinets IG and l2 are exactly (Cl. S12-163) alike except for width and doors, the latter cabinet having two and the formerr but one. Each cabinet is provided with a drawer 22 which may also be shipped knocked down.

Each cabinet is provided with a front frame 24 which is rabbeted on its longer edges as at 26 for the flush accommodation of separate side panels 28, of which there are two for each cabinet. Each front frame has a drawer opening 30 and a door opening 32 separated by a frame member 34. Adjacent the bottom of each front frame the side stiles are grooved at the rear as at 36 for a purpose to be described.

Each side panel 23 is provided with a top cleat 33 which extends from front to back of the panel but stops short of the edges; a drawer guide 40 of similar length spaced vertically downwardly from cleat 38; a short shelf-supporting cleat 42; and a bottom shelf-supporting cleat t4 which does not extend quite as far forwardly as cleat 33 and drawer guide lill, cleat d4 being spaced from the bottom of the side panel as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Cleats 38 are provided with inclined screw holes for the reception of screw fasteners 46 to secure the cleats to the counter top. It is to be understood that all side panels 23 are exactly alike both in size and shape throughout the cabinet combination of Fig. l, and that each cabinet has two side panels on which cleats 38, 40, 42, and 44 are fastened at the factory. Naturally, however, the cleats extend from the right face of a left hand side panel and Ifroml the left face of a right hand panel.

Rear panels 48 are of a width to nt between the side panels and may be plain except that each has a forward groove 52 adjacent the lower edge thereof. Doors 52 are rabbeted at 54 to fit the door openings of the front frames, and a plain rectangular toe board 5t is provided for each cabinet. Besides the above enumerated articles, shelves 58 and 60 are included.

When a cabinet or series thereof is sold, the side panels 28 are shipped with cleats attached; the front frame is assembled, rabbeted, and grooved; the rear panel is grooved, and the doors rabbeted. Appropriate hinges and handles are provided, and all that the customer has to do is to assemble the Various panels and nail them together as follows: the rear panel is placed between the side panels and is positioned by the rear ends of cleats 33, dil, 42, and M. A nail or screw may then be passed through the panel into the ends of the cleats. The front frame is then located by the side panels as shown in Fig. 5, and fasteners are inserted through the areas of the side panels adjacent the front edges, as at 62, so that the frame is securely held but is not marred by fasteners appearing at the front surfacev of the frame. In assembling the front frame and back panel, care should be taken to keep grooves 36 and 50 just coincident with cleats 44 so that shelf 60 may be held at its ends in these grooves, see Fig. 2. Base or toe board 56 is fastened to the front ends of cleats 44, the lowermost crossstile of the front frame being low enough to conceal the fasteners.

The doors are hung by their hinges and the drawers inserted after the screws 46 are entered into the lower surface of the counter top I8, and side panels 28 may then be bolted together to form continuous cabinet sections, or the cleats I6 and board 20 are applied if the sink front is to be used.

It will be seen from the above that this invention provides an inexpensive easily assembled cabinet construction which may be put together by the purchaser with a minimum'of effort, and any length of cabinet section may be made up from individual cabinets, which themselves may be made up in various widths to t predetermined lengths of available space, while the counter top may be made up to specications at the factory. The base board 56 is arranged to provide a toe space, and no fasteners of any kind will be seen from the front of the cabinets.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

A cabinet construction comprising a pair of separate spaced cabinets each having two side panels and a front door frame, said frames being rabbeted to receive edges of said side panels whereby the front frames extend the full widths of the separate cabinets, a horizontal cleat at the top of each side panel, a counter top overlying all the cabinets, means securing said cleats to the counter top, vertical cleats secured to certain of the side panels, doors hinged to said vertical cleats to cooperate to form a third cabinet between said pair of spaced cabinets, said vertical cleats being located at the rear of the front frames, and a top board extending between the side panels having the vertical cleats, said top board being located substantially flush with said front frames to provide an air space between said doors and top board.

FRANK MASTRANGELO. 

